OKANAGAN REGIONAL LIBRARY FALL 2004 BUDGET PRESENTATION Okanagan - PDF document

OKANAGAN REGIONAL LIBRARY FALL 2004 BUDGET PRESENTATION

Okanagan Regional Library Fall 2004 Presentation Package 1. 2004 Library Recap/Update • Additional Open Hours for Mission Branch – Additional hours for Mission Branch are part of the long-term strategic plan for keeping up with population growth in branch service areas. • Building Renovations, Moves and Planning • Falkland Branch increased in size and moved to a new location in February. • Okanagan Falls has a new branch! This bright and cheery new branch is right on the main highway in the commercial area. Staff have issued many new library cards since the move, as it is now in a visible location and appears very appealing from the street and inside. This is the first branch that the library has purchased, as it was less expensive over the long haul to purchase a strata unit than to rent or lease. • The Library Board has agreed to relocate Mission Branch. This satellite branch, in the fastest growing area of our system, is our 6 th busiest branch. The new branch should be finished near the end of 2004 and will be part of the new Capital News recreational complex in Kelowna. It will be 8,800 square feet. The Mission area has grown from 11,000 people in 1991, when the current branch was opened at 2,500 square feet, to a population of 23,000 in 2001. • We are working closely with the City of Vernon regarding a larger library. Vernon has a 13,000 square foot facility though Board standards would suggest a facility close to twice this size. Due to the large size of this branch, we are budgeting for the increased costs over several years, beginning in 2005. • Computerization and Automation • The library is installing self-checkout machines in Salmon Arm and Rutland branches this fall . This equipment, which has been piloted in several of our other branches over the past couple of years, will enable some library patrons to check out their own books, speeding up service and freeing up staff time to devote to assisting library users with other services. • We continued the second year of a three-year plan to replace dumb terminals with PC’s or thin client technology , in preparation for a necessary future move to windows based circulation system. This necessary move is currently expected to take place in 2006 or the beginning of 2007. • Other Initiatives and Items of Interest • We continued our addition to the materials budget for books and electronic resources, adding $100,000 (7%), following several years of frozen budgets. This budget must be increased annually to ensure that our collection remains relevant and of sufficient size to fully meet the needs of our diverse population.

• We initiated the first year of a two-year pilot program for a quick read collection. This special collection of popular fiction with short loan periods was designed to shorten the wait list, and it has. This program will be evaluated a year from now to determine its success and if and how it will be funded in the future. • Our total circulation of books and materials system wide continues to remain at over 3.4 million items per year. Meanwhile, the usage of our databases, website, and other electronic resources is growing by leaps and bounds. More and more people are taking advantage of the fact that they can access these things from any computer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Although some things in libraries have changed and are changing, it appears to be a growth, expansion, and adaptation as opposed to a replacement. We are pleased to see that libraries are not only maintaining their relevance and usefulness, but in many instances are increasing these as technology is introduced. • Storyhours and the Summer Reading Club have been identified as Core Library Services, and are presented in all Branches. In many communities there has been a lot of interest in Babytimes and Mother Goose Programs for children from 0 to 18 months. The Library has partnered with literacy groups and Mother Goose groups in nine branches to provide these programs. Branches involved are Kaleden, Kelowna, Lumby, Oliver, Osoyoos, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Vernon, and Westbank. Children in the Okanagan borrow heavily from branch libraries, according to a recent study by Clyde Hertzman of UBC. 2. The Future and Finances • The library is focused on continuing to implement its strategic plan as resources permit. • 2005 includes the first of the funding for a new Vernon branch – due to the large size of this branch, the funding will be added to the budget over more than one year to avoid large budget increases. • We continue to increase funding to our collections and materials , to strengthen and further develop our reason for being and to keep up with inflation. The Library is planning to offer a DVD collection in 2005. • In 2005, we will increase open hours for Sorrento and Peachland branches , to bring them up to the Board standards for the latest census population. • We have also planned to allow branches a small amount to advertise branch programs ($7,500 annually over 29 branches), and are continuing a three-year project to install (and pay for) a new payroll and Human Resources Information System. • We will continue to limit our annual assessment increases to the average homeowner in the system .